OnePlus 7 Pro Review: Finally In The Big League

OnePlus 7 Pro is finally official and the Chinese startup that started off as a flagship killer is at last competing head to head with the tier-1 flagships from Apple, Samsung, Google, and Huawei. In order to attain the needed escape velocity to leap into the premium segment, OnePlus has had to make some tough decisions and even at times disappoint its ardent fans, but the fact that OnePlus phones offer truly awesome experience in their class has ultimately helped the brand break through. (OnePlus 7 Pro Review हिंदी में पढ़िए)

With the 7 Pro, OnePlus sticks to its key strengths and tries to deliver an uncompromised phone. It has the best possible performance hardware for 2019, the Oxygen OS software is still a strong suit, and the well-calibrated AMOLED display has been substantially improved. But does it retain the same weaknesses too? Is the OnePlus finally ready to compete in the big boys’ league? We will address these questions and more in our OnePlus 7 Pro review.

A thin mental rail runs along the sides and the glass back on the 7 Pro is polished for a silky marble finish reminiscent of OnePlus 6T silk white. It must be mentioned that this feel is exclusive to the Nebula Blue color option only. The Almond and Midnight grey have regular glass feel (same as the regular midnight black from the last year).

Compared to the 6T, OnePlus has managed to cram an even bigger screen without inflating the phone size much. We personally would have preferred OnePlus reducing the phone size instead. The screen measures 6.67-inches if you take into account the curved corners, otherwise, the flat screen area measures approximately 6.4-inches.

Even for a Note 9 user, the fascia feels intimidatingly big. Being 8.8 mm thick and annoyingly heavy (206 grams), the 7 Pro is not a very comfortable phone to wield, particularly while gaming.

The fingerprint sensor is still underneath the screen. This year OnePlus uses a bigger sensor from Goodix and an improved lens resulting in faster unlock speed and better consistency.

The new curved AMOLED display is all that it’s cracked up to be and makes a huge difference. The bezels are extremely narrow all around, and the earpiece is well concealed.

The screen is uninterrupted since the selfie camera resides in a pop-up module that OnePlus claims can withstand 300,000 pops (Which is to say, if it elevates 200 times per day, you will still outlast 4 years). Also, the pop-up module will automatically retract itself as soon as the phone detects a free fall.

Talking of durability, there is Gorilla Glass 5 on front and back. This is a downgrade from Gorilla Glass 6 used on OnePlus 6T, but you will still be getting the same scratch resistance (but lesser drop resistance).

As already stated, the handset will retail in three color options: Nebula Blue (subtle gradient), Mirror Gray (understated and sober), and Almond (fancier soft gold). And of course, there will be some cool official case covers to go with them.

OnePlus 7 Pro Review: Display

The display is what OnePlus is banking on to justify its flagship claims. The new AMOLED panel is A+ rated by DisplayMate, supports HDR 10+, is QHD+ (2K) sharp, and has a 90Hz refresh rate system-wide (Which is an industry first).

The high refresh rate makes scrolling through webpages and other transitions smoother. This is not something you will immediately appreciate, but after you get in the rhythm of using the 7 Pro, you will notice the smooth scrolling missing on other phones. Scrolling just has less friction.

Even if you lock the display to 90Hz, OnePlus 7 Pro will switch back to 60Hz when you are using the camera, making a phone call, watching a video, and very surprisingly, when you are playing games.

QHD AMOLED Display with a 90Hz refresh rate.

The higher refresh rate is relatively harsher on battery and 7 Pro offers options to downgrade to 60Hz and lower 1080p resolution from display settings.

Every now and then, the new vibration motor punctuates your touches with gratifying haptic feedback, which is awesome. OnePlus offers three color profiles: Natural, Vivid, and Customized. A few others, including Display-P3, are listed under ‘Advanced’ options. Vivid mode is the default and it’s a lot better than the default mode we had on the 6T.

Overall, the display has vibrant colors and high contrast, and it’s a great screen to enjoy multimedia content. It’s also the biggest notable improvement in the 7 Pro over the OnePlus 6T.

The minimum brightness can go as low as 0.27 Nits bright and the new Night Mode 2.0 cuts blue light more efficiently, thus making the 7 Pro more comfortable to use in dark. And if you often use your phone at low brightness, you can also turn on DC Dimming from Laboratory (Settings>> Utility) to reduce the effects of PWM flicker.

OnePlus 7 Pro Review: Performance and Software

The OnePlus 7 pro is the first phone in India to be powered by Snapdragon 855. Qualcomm’s current best is further backed by up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of storage.

Oxygen OS 9.5 app drawer.

Many more SD 855 phones are currently on their way and they’re expected to cost substantially lesser, but one performance parameter that the competition would take some time catching up to is storage quality. The 7 Pro has dual lane UFS 3.0 storage (the only other phone announced with UFS 3.0 till date is Galaxy Fold, but it has hit some pre-production snag).

It must be mentioned that UFS 3.0 isn’t that big an advantage on 7 Pro, because of slower Random read and random write speeds that don’t benefit from the big UFS 3.0 bandwidth. Other phones like Galaxy S10 and Huawei P30 Pro adhering to UFS 2.1 standard but with a better quality of storage show better overall memory performance.

The overall performance is amazing. You can even play PUBG at HDR and Ultra settings! The 7 Pro also integrates a “10 layer liquid cooling system”, which keeps the temperature under control with extensive gaming or even when you are playing games and charging your phone simultaneously.

The call quality is excellent, OnePlus isn’t skimping on relevant connectivity options, and biometric unlock mechanisms work staggeringly fast. The in-display fingerprint sensor even works with moist or wet fingers.

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The Oxygen OS on the 7 Pro is currently based on Android 9 Pie. The clean interface is one of our personal favorites. Apart from other familiar features, new additions include a screen recorder that can be used to capture both your screen and surrounding sound.

There is also a new Zen Mode which is based on the same concept as Focus mode in Android Q. Once you enter Zen Mode, you will be allowed to only receive emergency calls and take photos for the next 20 minutes. OnePlus should have at least added the option to make phone calls. That’s also why we don’t use it much and perhaps Android Q will show better implementation.

OnePlus 7 Pro Benchmark Scores

Benchmark Test

Scores

AnTuTu

366128

Geekbench 4 Single-core

3382

Geekbench 4 Multi-core

11032

3D mark Sling Shot

6093

OnePlus 7 Pro Camera Review

The camera is one area where OnePlus hasn’t been able to match up with the tier-1 competition. This year, it gets a bit closer. Talking of the hardware first, the 7 Pro adds a total of three sensors, and unlike on 6T, puts the extras to better use.

OnePlus 7 Pro rear and selfie cameras.

The first and foremost is the Sony IMX586 48-megapixel sensor with wide f/1.6 aperture lens and OIS and EIS. The next is an 8Mp sensor with 78mm lens for 3X optical zoom, also with OIS. And there is a third 16-megapixel sensor with a wide-angle lens that enables a 117-degree field of view.

As for image quality, the camera shoots great details in proper outdoor lighting, but the white balance and metering can be off in tricky lighting. The OnePlus image processing has been generous with raising ISO in the past that often resulted in images that looked clear on the phone but soft when viewed on a larger screen. Well, that has been fixed to an extent.

OnePlus 7 Pro Camera Samples

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OnePlus 7 Pro camare sample using 48MP sensor

Shot with OnePlus 7 Pro telephoto lens

OnePlus 7 Pro camera in action indoors

OnePlus 7 Pro camera in action indoors

Daylight shots and close-ups in proper lighting have stunning details, but colors tend to get oversaturated.

Lowlight and night sight shots we tried turned up average, but the nightscape mode can really make a difference.

The 3X Zoom camera works well, but details take a hit when you zoom in.

In portrait mode, the camera zooms in (a bit much) on the subject (since OnePlus uses the telephoto lens sensor for depth sensing) and we had to readjust our position very often.

Images from the wide-angle camera are soft but decent.

Selfies are well balanced but feel soft when scrutinized on a bigger screen.

Overall, the camera is a definite improvement over what we had last year, but it still falls short of what Samsung, Apple, and Google offer, and by a margin.

Note: Above OnePlus 7 Pro Camera sample images have been resized for web. You can access original images from this google drive link.

OnePlus 7 Pro Review: Battery and Audio

As OP explained last year, removing the headphone Jack allowed it to fit in more technology, including a bigger battery. The 7 Pro houses a 4000mAh battery with an improved 30W Warp Charge.

The latest iteration of 30W Warp charge can keep the temperature under check without reducing charging speeds. Anyways, battery backup isn’t something you need to be worried about, but that’s only if you switch to 60Hz refresh rate and full HD+ or at least automatic resolution. At maximum display settings, battery drains faster but is still manageable

As for audio, there are Dolby powered stereo speakers that output rich audio. The 7 pro supports all necessary codecs for best possible audio experience as well. Weirdly, OnePlus doesn’t bundle an audio jack to USB Type-C connector in the box.

OnePlus 7 Pro Review Verdict

With the 7 Pro, OnePlus takes a huge step towards establishing itself as a mass market player. The new OnePlus flagship has an excellent display, offers assuring battery mileage, has improved cameras, and delivers perhaps the best performance on the Android side of the table.

The steep price should make it a bit inaccessible to enthusiasts and most young OnePlus fans in India, but for people who restricted by a budget, OnePlus continues offering a competent flagship killer, the OnePlus 7 (quick review).

As the success of 6T Mclaren edition proves, there are buyers who are willing to pay a premium for a competent OnePlus phone. For them, the ambitious OnePlus 7 Pro surely qualifies as a recommendation.

The author spent a significant chunk of his formative years resisting technology. He now keeps an eye on where the world is heading to and drives a passive pleasure from this indulgence. His passion for writing and learning is what drives him each day. When his workday ends, he enjoys spending time with family.